Surgery Godfather
Chapter 1035 - 854: Incidentally Removed the Tumor as Well

Chapter 1035: Chapter 854: Incidentally Removed the Tumor as Well

Once he received a stable vital signs report, Director Long finally relaxed, just a false alarm. He chuckled at the absurd thought that had briefly crossed his mind.

However, this surgery was indeed strange, with even the smallest blood vessels pre-coagulated. There wasn’t a single blood vessel that required reactive hemostasis.

Although the pancreatic tumor had not caused serious invasion to the liver, the blood vessels supplying the tumor were entwined with those at the hepatic portal, and Yang Ping was now dealing with this troublesome bundle of vessels.

The liver’s blood and bile ducts are intricately complex. Located at the liver’s transverse fissure is the first hepatic portal, home to the hepatic artery, portal vein, bile duct, as well as lymphatic and neural tissues; at the superior posterior part of the liver is the second hepatic portal, a hive of veins where the liver’s blood flows out, including the left, middle, and right hepatic veins, which gradually converge into the inferior vena cava behind the liver, returning the blood to the heart; concealed between the liver and the inferior vena cava is the third hepatic portal, where small blood vessels reroute the blood back to the inferior vena cava.

The liver and pancreas, compounded with the complex tumor that had large aberrant vessels numbering in the dozens and countless smaller ones, these vessels intertangled with those of the pancreas and hepatic portal, forming a hopelessly knotted mess.

Originally, the patient had sought help far and wide, but other hospitals had advised against surgery. Being still young and the main support of the family, the patient had no choice but to come to Xiehe Hospital. Doctor Liao, after seeing the patient in the outpatient clinic and deliberating, decided to take the risk of tackling this highly complex surgery, offering the patient a glimmer of hope.

But Doctor Liao, being young and impulsive, had not prepared adequately for the surgery, especially in terms of blood reserves. This insufficiency led to the current predicament, as the surgery turned into a quagmire, difficult at every step.

Such a surgery with significant blood loss, without enough transfusions, simply could not be completed.

Gazing at the chaotic, knotted mess before him, Director Long sighed incessantly. Even for someone as seasoned as him, it made his scalp tingle and sent chills down his spine.

Yet in Yang Ping’s hands, the scalpel and forceps danced like dragons and snakes, untangling one blood vessel after another from the twisted mess, leaving them for Director Long to clamp, tie, sever, suture, or ligate.

This ability to dissect and separate, only after how many surgeries could one master such skill, and how many of those operations were for tumors, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer.

The doctoral students observing the surgery, despite having been warned repeatedly by the patrolling nurse for being too close to the critical distance, still inched closer, centimeter by centimeter, jostling and bumping into one another.

Truly clear visibility was reserved for the doctors on the operating table, especially the first assistant had the best viewpoint. The onlookers below would only get a general idea if they were close, the rest were just there for the commotion.

Some brought step stools to stand on, leaning forward so much their eyes nearly bulged out, appearing on the brink of losing their balance at any moment.

Others, unable to find a spot, paced around anxiously, frequently asking those who had secured a good vantage point which stage the surgery had reached.

There was a camera on the surgical light, but the operating room lacked a connected LCD screen. The matching mobile LCD was in the teaching room, yet no one bothered with it at the moment.

The patrolling nurses only minded their own area of responsibility, as long as rules of the operating room weren’t disrupted, they were reluctant to sternly disperse the crowd. After all, they saw each other every day; it was better to avoid offending anyone.

It was only when the head nurse came around that the patrolling nurses would dutifully enforce regulations with a stern face, but once the head nurse left, everyone would regather, simply reshuffling their positions.

Professor Liang sat alone in a corner looking utterly bored. He circled the operating table, unable to see anything, but he knew the surgery was extremely difficult, and that Yang Ping was doing an impressive job.

Not just a bundle of blood vessels, but the task of untangling a mess of knotted yarn was challenging in itself.

Compared to Nie Feng’e’s surgery, this operation was just a bit less complicated. Yang Ping remained calm, continuing to separate the blood vessels. In the perilous field he operated within, his scalpel never retreated but always advanced to the frontline.

It felt like there was no way out through mountains and rivers, but suddenly, a village emerged amidst the dark willows and blooming flowers.

Whenever Director Long thought that the surgery had reached a dead end, the instruments in Yang Ping’s hands would reveal a new breakthrough, steadily pushing the surgery forward.

This patient fared better than Nie Feng’e because the tumor hadn’t invaded the liver as aggressively, suggesting that a conventional resection, though very tight and challenging, might be feasible. That’s perhaps why Doctor Liao decided to stick with the traditional approach.

If this operation succeeded using conventional resection, it would mark a pinnacle of achievement for this technique. If it proved too difficult for a clean resection, the goal could be reduced, from a radical cure to a mere extended resection.

Doctor Liao’s initial plan seemed thorough, but he had underestimated the severity of the tumor’s bleeding. His past surgical experience was not quite applicable in this case, which led to a preoperative misjudgment.

On the liver’s side, the main issue was the intertwined growth of the tumor’s vessels. Once these vessels were untangled, the liver’s side would be done, and resection would be unnecessary.

Since the tumor principally invaded the pancreas, the real focus was on this area. After detangling the tumor’s vessels on the liver’s side, following them would eventually lead to the pancreas. The duodenum lay next to the pancreas, so a large part of it had to be removed, as well as part of the pancreas. Even some of the stomach needed to be taken out. The surgery was indeed substantial.